How NOT to Skate Through Revisions

This past year was a whirl wind of firsts, including a new job and blogging for the first time ever. I also started the final revision of my Work In Progress (WIP) — a Young Adult (YA) supernatural mystery. All good. It’s been terrific, really.

But… there was an itsy-bitsy snag in the midst of the newness. With all the new shiny things in my life, progress on my WIP revisions slowed to a negligible crawl. Which is why come November, when everyone else was NaNoWriMoing, I lead a NaNoRevMo Charge on revisions for my WIP.

It was great tapping into the NaNo synergy. I got back in the groove, and the revisions were going well.

And then … life happened. What’s that they say about “making plans is the best way to make the universe laugh. In your face.”? Well, the universe was rolling around on the floor laughing at me…

Because it played out something like this…

Well… ALMOST… I won’t bore you with the deets, but here’s the general rundown:

I had to trap and relocate an entire colony of feral cats, when the property where I’d been feeding them went up for sale. No small task, and especially stressful since I’d cared for these cats every day for more than 9 years.

All the while, I had to keep on top of deadlines at the day-job. Nothing new there. But trapping the colony of feral cats in my spare time left no bandwidth for revisions. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch.

To top that all off, a killer cold knocked me flat and bronchitis shoved me head first into the proverbial snow bank. Luckily, after the cats made it to their new home. Deadlines at the day-job still had to be met, and I got the job done! But progress on the revisions? None what so ever.

Finally… I started feeling better. And now…

I’m back in the groove & skating on through…

I’ve sailed well past the half-way mark of the WIP revisions, and can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yay, me! Since I’m driven by deadlines, real or self-imposed, to keep the momentum going I drew a deadline for final completion on the calendar. Then I started realigning priorities. I’m confident I’ll be able reach the finish line in a relatively short time. But that means … something’s gotta give.

Sadly, this blog has to go dark … for awhile

Only for a few weeks folks… And that’s not to say I won’t post a funny video somewhere along the line. *wink, wink* Just no substantial content, as I need to focus my full attention on my WIP revisions … for now.

I’ll be back after the revision break. Promise!

I have a great series of posts planned for the coming year. But before I can dig into writing those awesome articles, I have to finish this WIP, so I can hop on the Literary Agent Submission Train.

I’ll see you all in a few weeks on the other side of the deadline! I’ll miss you guys, but this Revision Interlude will pass before we know it! [Image credit: Wikipedia]

Thank you Liv! Can I take a rain check on the beta read for the next project? This one has already been critiqued at conferences, and this last set of comments came from a freelance editor. I need to push this project out the door after this and test the waters. I have the story structure for the next project already planned out, and am excited about starting something new.

I’m glad I was able to catch and find a home for all those cats too. After caring for them for that long, they were my pets “away from home”. I couldn’t just abandon them. Just so you know, I will still be visiting all of your blogs during this time. I just don’t have the bandwidth to prepare new content for my blog and plow through my revisions. 😉

Yes, I HAD to relocate them because the surrounding neighborhood would not have supported them. Leaving them there to starve was not an option. The property where the cats went — their new home — is owned by a lovely older couple and is in a safe an quiet neighborhood. I can go visit any time I like, which is wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. 😉

Thank you for your well wishes. I’m ready to let this project go and start the next, but all good-outcome vibes are appreciated. There is never a good time to relocate a colony of feral cats, but you’re right … the timing was especially stressful. I’m just so relieved. I fed the cats in that colony “every day” for nine years (going on ten), so it felt like I was rescuing “my kids”. Phew.